From MP to the world, Ride for Life rolls on

MP resident Pendergast's annual ALS fundraiser spins from Montauk to Manhattan



By Alex Berkman

May 09, 2008 | 09:05 AM
Chris Pendergast, along with two other ALS patients in motorized wheelchairs and lots of supporters, made their way through the Stony Brook University campus Tuesday afternoon on the annual Ride for Life. Pendergast led the convoy to the South P parking area to a display of 6,000 pinwheels — one for every person lost to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, this past year.

"The idea behind the pinwheel display is not only to show how many people we lose each year from ALS," said Pendergast, "but to send the message that someday a cure is possible and the answer may be 'blowing in the wind.'"

Participant Rich Kornak, riding in his motorized wheelchair since the start of this year's event on May 3, was visibly emotional at the display of pinwheels, glinting in the sunlight.

Pendergast, against all odds a 15-year-long ALS patient and the founder of Ride for Life, began the annual 10-day trek from Manhattan to Montauk 11 years ago with the hope of educating people about the disease and raising funds to help find a cure.

One family in attendance was greatly affected by the good Pendergast has done over the years.

Ethel Crowley passed away December 13, 2007, after a nearly seven-year battle with ALS. "And battle she did," said her daughter Joann Beckman.

Diagnosed in 2001, Crowley became introverted about having the disease. She stopped going out and wanting to see people, but then found friends and new hope in life when she joined the Ride for Life, her children said. "It was the one blessing in her diagnosis," said Beckman.

In 2006, Crowley rode the entire route with Pendergast, bringing her dog, Muppy, along for parts of the ride. She also rode in 2007, but could not participate the whole way, due to deteriorating health.

Crowley arrived for the ride in 2006 with a manual wheelchair, Beckman said. They thought it would be a short trip, but soon realized they were not equipped for the 10-day ride. Ride for Life provided Crowley with a motorized chair, so that she could participate.

Cynthia Miles and Sabrina Devins, Crowley's other daughters, and Carl Crowley, her son, all expressed how much Ride for Life helped their mother in her time of need. "They just embraced us," Beckman said.

Pendergast started the Ride for Life in 1998, when he rode from Manhattan to Washington. Since then, the ride has raised more than $3 million, 40 percent of which goes toward patient services.

The disease is "so difficult, physically," and many people have been lost to it, Pendergast said. The Ride's founder is a Miller Place resident.

Pendergast always hopes for the same thing in the future. "Next year we're planning to celebrate a cure," he said. Pendergast added that if he were a realist he would not expect a cure, but said he is very much an optimist.

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